1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to wireless communications systems. More particularly, the present invention relates to systems for improved data transmission in wireless communication frames.
2. Background
Time division multiple access (TDMA) wireless RF communications standards such as worldwide digital cordless telecommunications (WDCT) establish wireless communication that enable multiple parties to communicate over a wireless link by partitioning of a basic communication frame into smaller units, often called slots. During one communication frame, different parties can each communicate with the same third party, for example, by each using one particular slot of the frame. The WDCT standard is particularly useful in applications such as cordless telephony where accuracy of voice communication is important. An added feature employed by the WDCT standard is frequency hopping, which helps ensure rapid avoidance of interference from other RF sources (e.g., WiFi, 802.1 lb/g) that may be operating nearby, as well as providing intrinsic security without data/voice encryption. For the above reasons, WDCT has emerged as a useful technology for home and office settings in which many RF-communications appliances may be present. However, the raw data carrying capacity of WDCT transmissions is limited to 32 kilobits per second (bps) based on the conventional WDCT design used for carrying 8 KHz audio streams.
Conventional WDCT was developed for cordless phones using adaptive differential pulse code modulation technology, which provides good quality voice reproduction at 8 KHz transmission rates. However, with the proliferation of other sources of RF communications, for one, there is a need to improve voice communication over WDCT communications links. Furthermore, WDCT devices employed to carry data other than voice data are limited in bandwidth as discussed above. This latter fact severely limits the ability to use WDCT devices for applications such as multimedia where higher bandwidth is desirable.
In light of the foregoing, it will be appreciated that a need exists to improve WDCT communications.